Dr. Jolene Zywica is the Learning Experience Designer at Opportunity Education where her team is creating a quest-based learning platform to offer discovery-based, personalized learning to students around the world. Previously she worked at Working Examples at CMU and the Digital Youth Network in Chicago.

Jolene works on the Next Generation Learning Program (NGL), which offers discovery-based, personalized learning to students around the world. The program includes quest-based learning and a platform to support students, teachers, and quest designers. The program is currently piloting with 13 organizations across the U.S., Central America and Tanzania.

Jolene leads the development of the NGL methodology and the learner experience with quests and the program. She ensures that NGL builds on best practices from learning sciences research, education innovation and games-based learning. Jolene has spent most of her career designing and studying learning experiences that use digital media, social media, and games to promote learning, digital literacy, and social connections.

Jolene earned an MA in Communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a PhD in Learning Sciences and Policy from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to working at Opportunity Education, Jolene was a post-doctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University and the Community Manager at WorkingExamples.org, where she supported a community of ed-tech researchers, designers and educators. Prior to moving to Pittsburgh, she was a researcher with the Digital Youth Network in Chicago, Il.